Modified COTS and the Super Bowl

I came on board to InHand Electronics just over a week ago and have spent a lot of my time familiarizing myself with the products and services we offer. Maybe it’s because the Super Bowl is this weekend or football is just always on my mind, but as I learned about InHand’s custom products I immediately thought of a story I read about the NFL. For years the NFL printed out pictures on the sidelines so players and coaches could review them and make game time adjustments. Over the past two seasons, someone realized we are in the 21st century and decided to introduce tablets to this process.

Microsoft paid the NFL $400 million to be the provider of these sideline tablets with the hope of establishing a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties. Microsoft gets exposure to the millions of fans who watch football every Sunday and the NFL has a more advanced way of making in game adjustments, plus an additional $400 million their pocket. However, since Microsoft’s tablets hit NFL sidelines there has been a wave of bad press about them. Most notably, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick went on a rant about the tablets during a post game press conference which included him saying “I’m done with tablets. They’re just too undependable for me.” While Microsoft has publicly defended their tablets and NFL higher ups have done the same, I imagine there have been some tense phone conversations between the two about this. As a league that prides itself on being the best, having a high profile coach rant about bad tablets is not a good look for the NFL.

What could the NFL have done differently to ensure the tablets met their needs? This brings me back to the products and services we offer here at InHand Electronics. We specialize in custom electronics that are specifically designed to meet our customer’s requirements. Microsoft took an existing product they wanted to get exposure to and assumed it could meet the NFL’s needs. We start with a known good product and modify it to meet the specific requirements our customers demand. Our Modified-COTS (Modified Consumer off the shelf) approach reduces risk and time to market for our customers. InHand’s Hydra tablet would have been modified to meet the requirements outlined by the NFL and its coaches, including perhaps creating an NFL branded tablet for them to sell.

View Original Source: http://www.inhand.com/mcots-and-the-super-bowl/

Contact Details:

InHand Electronics, Inc.

30 West Gude Dr. Suite 
550Rockville, MD 20850
Phone No. : 240-558-2014
Web : www.inhand.com
Email : rfeldman@inhand.com

Security: Forethought and Planning Avoids Problems

My wife and I were watching the news the other night and a story came up about the latest telemarketing scam that is making its way around the country. With this new scam, you answer your phone and a person who sounds like a telemarketer asks, “Can you hear me OK?” Most people instinctively say “yes” because they can in fact hear them OK. This is a pretty reasonable reaction, but it is also a predictable one. The scammer records your “yes,” then hangs up the phone and uses the recording to make over-the-phone purchases with a credit card or account associated with your name. When you go to contest the charges the credit card company will pull up the purchase, play the recording and ask “Is this your voice?” at which point you’re trapped.

As I watched this story I was reminded of a beach vacation my family took when I was in high school. Every day we walked down to the beach, but always left the house unlocked because everyone made their way back to the house at different times. One afternoon, we returned to the beach house to find my dad’s wallet and mom’s purse had been stolen. My dad called the credit card company and sure enough someone had already started using their credit cards in nearby towns. Fortunately for us we had family friends staying with us who were able to spot us enough money to finish out the vacation. All in all, the material loss for our family was pretty negligible. However, the feeling of being violated stuck with our family (especially my mom) for a while. Every year since we have diligently locked our doors at the beach and remind ourselves of that year whenever the logistics of passing around a key seems not worth it.

When it comes to security a lot of us are reactive instead of proactive. How many more years would we have left our doors unlocked had we not been robbed that one time? Security used to be an afterthought for us at the beach, and still is an afterthought for many of us in different aspects of our lives. The scam on the news highlighted that there are now substantially more ways for someone to take from you. In a time when our cell phones and tablets feel like extensions of ourselves, it is scary to think that someone can sit on the other side of the world and violate your personal space. Even scarier, is the damage could be more than just a feeling of being violate and actually be quite substantial.

To read more click here:- http://www.inhand.com/security-forethought-planning-avoids-problems/

Contact Details:

InHand Electronics, Inc.
30 West Gude Dr. Suite 550
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone No. : 240-558-2014
Web :www.inhand.com
Email : rfeldman@inhand.com

Why Security Is Critical to The Success of The Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) connects machines, allowing remote control and data collection used to improve automation, real-time knowledge, efficiency, and convenience. The Industrial Internet of things (IIoT) is a class of the IoT where manufacturing and other critical infrastructure are interconnected for operational efficiency and to enable rapid response in case of problems. What used to be simple machines are now smart machines. However, remote access increases the number of security risks experienced by industrial facilities.

IoT security and privacy is a hot-button issue due to the fact hackers can find vulnerabilities in connected devices and industrial equipment that can give them access to sensitive data and control. Hackers have everything to gain by identifying these vulnerabilities, which is why IoT security and privacy are extremely important.

Consequences for Insufficient Cybersecurity

There are some frightening consequences for insufficient IoT security. For example, a hacker can access gain control of infrastructure and completely shut down operations, such as during the cyberattack on a Ukrainian power plant in December 2015. There have been reports of hacking into a large number of other IoT connected devices, including cars, cameras, industrial machinery, even rugged linux tablet and rugged Android tablet. In addition to temporary control, permanent damage induced from setting machines to parameters which cause them to operate out of specification or the theft of private data are possible. The loss of money, equipment, and even life are potential outcomes of insufficient cybersecurity.

View Original Source: http://www.inhand.com/why-security-is-critical-to-the-success-of-the-internet-things/

Contact Details:

InHand Electronics, Inc.

30 West Gude Dr. Suite 550

Rockville, MD 20850

Phone No. : 240-558-2014

Web : www.inhand.com

Email : rfeldman@inhand.com

Security Challenges Posed by Internet of Things

At one time, computers were the only devices connected to the internet. Not long after, smartphones connected through cellphone carriers. Wi-Fi enabled tablets and smartphones followed suit. Video game systems came with the capability to allow their users to play other players online, video streaming devices arose, and now people can control the lights or thermostats in their homes through mobile applications. The internet quickly became an Internet of Things (IoT). With it came IoT security challenges due to these devices being connected to the internet.

Nowadays, it isn’t just the consumer facing security challenges. Those in the industrial world face them as well because of their reliance on the internet for machines to talk to each other. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) incorporates big data with sensor data, machine learning, and much more. Manufacturers achieve better efficiency, more environmentally friendly practices, and improved quality control.

Unfortunately, hackers around the world look for security vulnerabilities that will allow them to obtain certain types of data from or control of machines for nefarious uses, including as sources for distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. The lack of attention to cybersecurity for IoT devices did not shut out these vulnerabilities from the start.

View Original Source: http://www.inhand.com/security-challenges-posed-by-internet-of-things/

Contact Details:

InHand Electronics, Inc.

30 West Gude Dr. Suite 550

Rockville, MD 20850

Phone No. : 240-558-2014

Web : www.inhand.com

Email : rfeldman@inhand.com